


Vanity, thy Name is Charles Xavier

by loveydoveyecstasy



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Middle aged mutant husbands, Older Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-24
Updated: 2011-11-24
Packaged: 2017-10-26 12:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/282925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveydoveyecstasy/pseuds/loveydoveyecstasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles is starting to lose his hair. Erik thinks he should shave it all off. Charles disagrees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vanity, thy Name is Charles Xavier

**Author's Note:**

> Quick note, aside from the usual disclaimer about not owning them. This is part of a series I'm still working on, called Raising Baby Phoenix, where Charles and Erik are married and adopt Jean Grey as their daughter. Anyhow, enjoy!

"I do wish you'd let me shave your head, Charles." 

"And I wish you'd stop bringing the subject up. I'm shaving my head just as soon as your six pack returns." 

"That was harsh, Charles."

"Stop harping on my hair, then." 

The subject was dropped for the moment, but Erik couldn't help but glance over at Charles and take in the thinning, greying hair that aged him so much more than any of the lines on his face. Charles would look infinite times better with a shaved head, but Erik knew he wouldn't be able to talk Charles into the look. 

The next few months passed without any more mention of shaving Charles's head, although Erik did pet his hair and rub the exposed scalp more often than he had before. 

It was Jean who brought the subject up again. At fourteen years old, she was prone to speaking whatever thought floated through her head, especially as far as her parents were concerned. Charles had been attempting to work with her on filtering through her thoughts, but was having almost no success. Erik, on the other hand, found it all rather amusing, and let her say whatever she wished in his presence. 

"Papa, you're balding," she stated one night over dinner. Erik snorted into his glass of wine, and Charles froze, fork halfway to his mouth. 

"Why don't you just shave your head? You look old. You'd look less old with a shaved head." 

Erik coughed in an attempt to smother his laughter, especially at the look on Charles's face.

"I'll not be shaving my head, Jean, but thank you for the suggestion."

"Why not? Vater could do it for you. You'd look better. You'd have a shiny head! It'd be great." 

Erik ducked his head, unable to keep a straight face. He could feel Charles's irritation on the edges of his mind, and stealing a glance at him, saw the barely concealed anger on his face. 

"Please drop the subject, Jean. I'm not shaving my head. Now finish your dinner." 

Jean pouted, but wisely dropped it, and they finished their dinner in silence. 

It would be another two months before Charles brought the subject up himself. 

"Why are you so keen on getting rid of my hair? I thought you liked it," he asked Erik one night, as they laid in bed, wrapped around each other, Erik's fingers carding through what was left of Charles's hair. 

"I do like it," Erik replied, pausing in his petting. "But it's almost gone anyhow. Why not finish the job? Jean was right when she said you look old with your thinning hair. You'd look younger with it shaved." 

Charles fell silent at that, mulling it over, and Erik resumed his petting. When he spoke next, Charles changed the subject, and it wasn't brought up again for another few weeks. Even then, it wasn't truly brought up. 

Erik had slept in, a rare occurrence, as he'd long since grown accustomed to sleeping as little as possible, a habit that was difficult to break. Even now, if he slept in until nine thirty, it was considered late. Even rarer was Charles awakening before him. This morning found both oddities occurring, with Erik waking up alone.

Sliding out of bed, he padded silently to the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, smiling at the sight in front of him. 

Charles was standing in front of the mirror, examining his reflection. He reached up and covered his hair with his hands, slicking it back and attempting to see what he'd look like bald. He studied the image for a few moments, frowning, before dropping his hands and sighing. That was about the point that he caught sight of Erik, and blushed, embarrassed. 

"You're up late," he murmured, walking over and standing on tiptoe to press a kiss to Erik's cheek. 

"And you're up early." 

"Yes, well, I was having trouble sleeping. I'll go get coffee started." He slipped away, effectively stopping any comments Erik might have made. Shaking his head, Erik went into the bathroom to shower and begin getting ready for the day. 

It would be another month before Charles finally made the request. 

It comes during one of their nightly chess games, Charles brooding and taking longer to make his moves than usual. Erik was on the verge of asking if he was all right when Charles finally spoke up. 

"Would you shave my head, Erik?" he blurted out, face flushing a light pink. He met Erik's gaze and held it, despite the waves of embarrassment washing over him. He seemed to relax when Erik finally smiled and simply said, "Yes." 

They abandon the game then and there, making their way to the bathroom together. Charles radiated nervousness, and Erik hummed in an effort to lighten the mood for his husband. 

Once they'd gotten set up over the tub, Charles's shirt having been removed, with him kneeling over the bath and Erik standing over him with the electric clippers in his hand, Erik paused. 

"Are you sure, Charles?"

"Yes," he replied softly. "Please hurry before I change my mind." 

"Okay, liebling." 

He flicked on the clippers, and knelt beside his husband. He wanted to do this without his powers, knowing that the feeling of his hand on Charles's shoulder, as well as the one in his hair, would  help him to relax. 

The first lock of hair that hit the tub was met with a small sigh from Charles. After that, he didn't make another noise, holding perfectly still as Erik carefully removed all the hair from his head, working in smooth, slow strokes. Once he was finished, he turned the clippers off and reached for the towel hanging beside the sink and brushed Charles's neck and shoulders off. 

"There. Finished." 

Charles slowly sat back and stared at the bits of hair littering the floor of the bathtub before standing up and turning to face Erik. He wouldn't look in the mirror just yet. 

"Well? How do I look?" he asked, voice soft and scared. 

Erik studied his face, taking in the lines around his eyes and mouth, the circles underneath those eyes, the uncertainty in his baby blues, and the frown his perpetually red lips were set in. 

He looked wonderful, and the fact that he had trusted Erik with such a task made Erik fall for him all over again. 

"Perfect," he murmured, smiling warmly at his husband. Charles raised an eyebrow, and still wouldn't look towards the mirror, clearly disbelieving Erik. Cupping his cheek, Erik did his best to show Charles just how he looked to him: younger than he has in years, and absolutely perfect. He knew his affection was bleeding through the image, because Charles's face had flushed again, and he was smiling wide enough to break his face in half. 

"Thank you, Erik," he murmured, leaning in to kiss him soundly. 

The next morning, the rest of the school reacted just as positively to Charles's newly shaved head, although Alex did make a joke about cue balls that earned him a nasty look from Erik, which was enough to shut him up for the rest of the evening. 

Later that night, as they settled down to bed, Charles thanked Erik for shaving his head once again. To which Erik responded by pressing a kiss to the top of his newly smooth head, and began a slow, gentle scalp massage that left Charles groaning in appreciation and melting against his chest. 

From then on, it became a monthly tradition for Erik to shave Charles's head before bed, until his hair finally stopped growing in. At that point, over half of Erik's hair was grey, and Charles teased him relentlessly about it. Erik supposed it was a fair punishment for all the times he'd teased Charles about the loss of his hair. 


End file.
